Lets say we want to use reflection to generate a mock test case for this following Nested Class ClientAddress.
When we load an assembly from a disk dynamically, we can use GetType to look up a type defined in the assembly.
Example:
Assembly assembly = Assembly.GetAssembly(typeof(TheClient));
Type type = assembly.GetType("ConsoleApplicationUsePlus.TheClient");
object obj = Activator.CreateInstance(type);
But one point to remember here, to get Assembly.GeType working with nested classes a Plus(+) sign should precede the nested class. To get a parent class and a nested class we have to use
Type.GetType("ParentClass+NestedClass") //Notice the Plus(+) sign.
So in the above example to get ClientAddress we would have to write something like this.
Assembly assembly = Assembly.GetAssembly(typeof(TheClient));
Type type = assembly.GetType("ConsoleApplicationUsePlus.TheClient+ClientAddress"); //Notice the Plus(+) sign.
object obj = Activator.CreateInstance(type);
This is well documented in MSDN and here is the full chart
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa332510.aspx
To Get An unmanaged pointer to MyType
Use Type.GetType("MyType*")
To Get An unmanaged pointer to a pointer to MyType
Use Type.GetType("MyType**")
To Get A managed pointer or reference to MyType
Use Type.GetType("MyType&"). Note that unlike pointers, references are limited to one level.
To Get A parent class and a nested class
Use Type.GetType("MyParentClass+MyNestedClass")
To Get A one-dimensional array with a lower bound of 0
Use Type.GetType("MyArray[]")
To Get A one-dimensional array with an unknown lower bound
Use Type.GetType("MyArray[*]")
To Get An n-dimensional array
Use A comma (,) inside the brackets a total of n-1 times. For example,System.Object[,,] represents a three-dimensional Object array.
To Get A two-dimensional array's array
Use Type.GetType("MyArray[][]")
To Get A rectangular two-dimensional array with unknown lower bounds
Use Type.GetType("MyArray[*,*]") or Type.GetType("MyArray[,]")
Lets go back to generate our mock test case for the Nested class ClientAddress.
namespace ConsoleApplicationUsePlus
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
MockHelper generator = new MockHelper();
//Generate mock testcase
generator.Generate();
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
class MockHelper
{
int index = 0;
private void GenerateMock(object obj)
{
DoWork(obj, string.Empty);
}
Dictionary<string, string> keys = new Dictionary<string, string>();
private void DoWork(object obj, string baseInstanceName)
{
Console.WriteLine(obj.GetType().ToString());
index = index + 1;
string instanceName = string.Format("{0}{1}", obj.GetType().Name, index);
Console.WriteLine(String.Format("{0} {1} = new {0}(); ", obj.GetType().Name, instanceName));
keys.Add(baseInstanceName, instanceName);
foreach (System.Reflection.PropertyInfo property in obj.GetType().GetProperties())
{
if (property.PropertyType.Assembly.FullName.Contains("ConsoleApplicationUsePlus"))
{
object propertyInstance = property.GetValue(obj, null);
if (propertyInstance == null)
{
propertyInstance = Activator.CreateInstance(property.PropertyType);
if (property.CanWrite)
property.SetValue(obj, propertyInstance, null);
string baseI = String.Format(@"{0}.{1}", instanceName, property.Name);
DoWork(propertyInstance, baseI);
Console.WriteLine(String.Format(@"{0}.{1} = {2} ;", instanceName, property.Name, keys[baseI]));
}
}
else if (property.PropertyType == typeof(string))
{
Console.WriteLine(String.Format(@"{0}.{1} = {2} ;", instanceName, property.Name, GetRandomString()));
}
}
}
//Entry point
public void Generate()
{
Assembly assembly = Assembly.GetAssembly(typeof(TheClient));
Type type = assembly.GetType("ConsoleApplicationUsePlus.TheClient+ClientAddress"); //Notice the plus sign(+)
object obj = Activator.CreateInstance(type);
GenerateMock(obj);
}
private string GetRandomString()
{
long i = 1;
foreach (byte b in Guid.NewGuid().ToByteArray())
{
i *= ((int)b + 1);
}
return string.Format("{0:x}", i - DateTime.Now.Ticks);
}
}
}
and the output looks like the following.
I have discussed about the MockHelper in one of my earlier post, so not discussing this code again here.
Conclusion
We have looked at the qualified type name of nested classes, also looked at how to use Type.GetType() for various types. The best way to avoid any mistakes on the type name possibly, is to create and instance of the class and to invoke the GetType().ToString() on the instantiated object;
Example :
TheClient.ClientAddress obj = new TheClient.ClientAddress();
Console.WriteLine(obj.GetType().ToString());
Enjoy Coding!!